Chrysler Joins Recall Parade

Chrysler Group has issued a recall notice for 18,092 model year 2014 Fiat 500L vehicles to repair a defect that may have a delayed effect or no effect at all when a driver moves the transmission lever out of the Park position in certain temperature conditions. The company will notify dealers and owners in April.

According to a filing with the U.S. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), Chrysler knows of no accidents or injuries related to this issue, which is caused by “inconsistent data transfer rates between to in-system microcontrollers” in the gear shift mechanism. The company said it opened an investigation in October following reports that the PRNDL lights were flickering and that there were delays in shifting. According to the filing:

[S]hift requests made by the driver during this period may lead to vehicles moving in an unintended or unexpected direction.

Chrysler will either replace the shifter module or update the shifter software at no charge to the owner.

Last week Honda Motor Corp. (NYSE: HMC) recalled nearly 900,000 Odyssey minivans to repair a defective fuel pump part that may cause fuel to leak onto the engine and ignite. General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) recalled 1.6 million vehicles earlier this month to repair an ignition switch defect that is linked to at least 13 deaths and multiple injuries.